Tunza, Billabong, Shoppo and ‘my uncle is in the mafia’: this is how you know you grew up in Donny
Do you have a forgiving attitude towards buses, remember the likes of INXS rocking the local, and go to high school with someone who claimed their uncle was in the Mafia? Yep, you’re from Donny. But here’s a few things you may not know.
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You know you grew up in Donny (Tempy also) if every second person you went to high school with claimed to have an uncle in the Mafia and if you said anything about their brother then the crew was coming down to bash you after school.
This usually spilt over to Shoppo on a Friday afternoon at either the old bus stop circle or the food court, where kids from a dozen or so local high schools congregated in Stussy pants, Country Road jumpers and Country Road bags.
The food court underwent multiple upgrades and position changes but the 1990s old ground level iteration was most notorious.
The Timezone exit was where the tough kids hung and Macca’s saw the most action but I favoured the grub at Melina’s and Seargent Snag.
SHOPPO TILL YOU DROPO
Speaking of Shoppo (Westfield Shoppingtown for those not from the area), Doncaster’s mecca took an eternity to get a major facelift back in 1992 but has been in a slugfest with Chadstone on who can build the better shopping precinct ever since.
It also seemed like an eternity when almost everyone you spoke to said: “did you hear shoppo is getting 10 cinemas?”.
Despite this, the old twin screen Village Cinema, the one with staircase up from the car park, and the one which was quite easy to sneak into, if one was inclined, battled on well into the 2000s.
MAD FOR IT
The other thing about Shoppo is that is was where Australia’s most wanted criminal, feared bank robber, Russell ‘Mad Dog’ Cox was arrested following a shootout with cops back in 1988.
But that’s a story for another time or another listicle.
Of course Shoppo had a TGI Friday’s early but it also had a Sizzler, which was easy to eat at without paying, if one was inclined, but that Sizzler went kaput when the franchise shut up shop in Victoria.
EVERYBODY WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING
Can you believe international movie star Jackie Chan opened up his own restaurant at the Sizzler site called ‘Jackie’s Kitchen’?
Well he did and, like every other eatery at the site, it failed miserably.
Apparently Jackie loved Melbourne after doing a few films here back in the day and rumour was he shot a scene at a local building site during the early 2000s Doncaster Hill construction boom.
Jackie would’ve been better advised to eat down the road at one of Melbourne’s last surviving sit-in, all-you can eat Pizza Huts, you know the one next to the old Pancake Parlour, sorry, scratch that, the Pancake Parlour which, for some reason, is still there.
CHEQUERED PAST
The whole block has had a bit of a chequered history.
Barbarino’s, the famous steak house, barely survived until the early 90s when it was replaced by a Yum Cha megaplex – one of many in the area.
However, the neighbouring site was more volatile.
First came Denny’s, that was swiftly replaced by the Keg, then came The Pavilion – the first-non pokies pub in Doncaster’s history.
The ‘Pav’ flourished until the 2010s before it was eventually replaced by Papa Rich.
Papa Rich didn’t survive and last check the site was occupied by a seafood smorgasbord restaurant – seems like a good idea to me.
Not far up Donny Rd was the old Video Flash where the neighbourhood kids spent hours on the Street Fighter 2 machine at 60 cents a pop.
Further down was Tunza (TunzaFun) where everybody who was anybody sunk money on Daytona and Mortal Kombat.
Rumour had it the owners were related to someone who was in the Mafia and they sold cocaine but, like most unsubstantiated claims, that rumour went down as another unverified urban legend.
Next door was the good ole Donny Inn – which still stands but not in the way you remember it.
Once home to legendary Aussie acts like INXS and Fat Cat – the Donny Inn (Doncaster Inn Hotel) was notorious for being a rough suburban live music menu which also housed one of
Doncaster’s two Billabong Family Bistro’s.
CAMPED BY A BILLABONG
You know the one with the bears?
And where you knew your chicken and chips or frog in the pond was ready when a number flashed up on a screen.
The other Billabong was housed at the area’s other doyen, the Shoppingtown Hotel.
This was the Billabong with a tram in the playground.
The Shoppo Hotel experimented with the Tram Bar back in the early 2000s.
This was the place to be for about 18 months before going kaput more than a decade ago.
Of course, the over 28s scene at the hotel was booming despite being in competition with High Society right across the road.
The latter got its name because it was atop Shoppingtown’s famous, and still-standing tower.
Speaking of trams, do you recall the old Macca’s midway down Doncaster Rd?
This one had two gherkin-riddled trams you could eat in.
THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO …
Everything in Doncaster seemed to be linked to trams except the local public transport system.
Buses were the only show in town and if you needed to get anywhere then any of a dozen buses – including the 279, 291, 293, 295, 289 – could get you to Box Hill.
If you didn’t have a car – and not many schoolkids did unless it was stolen – then walking up and down Donny’s hilly terrain was the next best option.
Walking to the Donny pool – now the Aquarena – wasn’t the problem but immediately facing a steep hill the second you step out of the pool exit was an issue.
Also, remember when the water slide cost money? That went out the window when they realised kids were just stealing the wrist bands.
Anyway, you could walk to the Botanical Gardens (Ruffey Lake Park) from the pool in about an hour.
The huge park – slap bang in the middle of Doncaster and Templestowe – was a great place to walk your dog, exercise or drink beers after dark in one of the public gazebos – if one was inclined.
ROPED INTO IT …
Further away, down by the Templestowe creek/river which connected to the Yarra was the famous ‘Jesus Rope’.
The massive swing rope got its name because when you swung off it into the water you screamed: “Jeeessssussss!”
Nearby, at a Templestowe milk bar – which shall remain unnamed – you could get a delicious hotdog and single cigarettes which the owner readily sold to school kids.
It was a different time then.
Cigarettes were handy if you went to one of several underage nightclubs (or High Society) which were a weekend staple of the mid-90s.
Existence, at the Welcome Stranger, was the OG but it was followed by a series of events, I think called Hardware or something stupid held at the old Doncaster Athenaeum hall.
These kind of events attracted every second schoolkid from the area, many who claimed their uncle was in the Mafia, but you already knew this if you grew up in Donny (Also Tempy).
MORE REMEMBER WHENS:
HOW YOU KNOW YOU'RE A KNOX LOCAL …
HOW YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM DANDENONG …